Study finds lesbian, gay and bisexual teens more likely to be punished

A study to be published in the American Academy of Pediatrics’s journal, Pediatrics, and released online today, shows that non-heterosexual youth are disproportionately more likely than their peers to face punishment by schools or criminal justice systems.

Girls who self-identify as bisexual or lesbian are particularly at risk to face punishments by school officials or police at rates that do not reflect their rate of bad behavior.

For the study, researchers followed a nationally representative sample of more than 20,000 students in the 7th through 12th grades. Students were asked to self-identify as either heterosexual or having varying degrees of interest in homosexual relationships. They were also questioned on their rates of school expulsion, police stops, arrests and convictions.

Researchers found that teens who identified as non-heterosexual were 1.24 to 3 times more likely than their straight peers to be punished for similar offenses. Girls were especially at risk and the study’s authors note this may be due to the juvenile-justice systems historic role in policing girls’ sexuality and particular attention directed to girls who have “aggressive” or “masculine” personalities.

“Maybe in a lot of them homosexuality is simply a symptom of a anti-establishment personality.”

Please note that the article states they were punished more than straight kids for SIMILAR OFFENSES. So it has nothing to do with whether or not they are getting in trouble more as a whole. They looked at their punishments and found they were more severe than straight students got for the same offense.

Seems this study, like so many others, is designed to “normalize” and make acceptable this abberant behavior. It finds (shockingly and unexpectedly) that people who do not conform to normally accepted standards of behavior are mistreated, disadvantaged and should be assisted to continue their abnormal behavior. Hogwash.

Several years ago I was a teacher in HISD. Every year we had to undergo sexual harrassment training along with several other similar annual trainings on everything from workplace safety to professional development policies. The lady who conducted the sexual harrassment segment was an administrator in HISD’s human resources department, and when she took questions, a younger teacher raised her hand (we could tell she was a rookie because folks are usually too eager to get through the meeting to bother) and asked if HISD had any policies that specifically protect gay and lesbian students from harrassment. The administrator replied, “Well, I think it’s important to remember that when a gay student is harrassed, it’s often because they are attempting to recruit others into their lifestyle…” About two hundred heads looked up at once. People were astonished that the lady in charge of overseeing these policies actually said that. One gay teacher on our staff fired off a letter of protest to upper administration, but I don’t think anything came of it. In fact I think the same lady was in charge of these policies when I finally left the district.

You think this stuff couldn’t possibly be true, but it is. It’s hard enough being a teenager these days. I can’t imagine what it’s like for gay kids.

Could this also be that these children are more rebellious by nature and would be naturally more likely to be in trouble, regardless of their sexuality? Are they saying being gay causes them to get caught more or are they more likely to act defiantly toward authority figures and therefore, be more likely to get punished than someone who does the same thing but acts more respectfully toward a teacher, parent, or police officer. Do they walk around with a chip on their shoulder, expecting to be treated more harshly, and by acting in such a manner, bring the more severe punishment upon themselves? It’s funny, but of the homosexual adults I have known, college age and older, they seem to be much more likely to NOT get in trouble with the law. So it seems that it is more the age of the person in question as opposed to their sexual orientation that brings about repercussions. Do teenage heterosexual males and females get into more trouble or less trouble than 20 or 30 year olds who are also heterosexual? Sounds like another example of some egghead taking advantage of the system to produce worthless information. Probably got a $1 million grant, spent $100K on the “study” and pocketed the rest as “administrative expenses”!!!

Wouldn’t that be because they have more risky behaviors? Sometimes just the appearance alone can be alarming. If they’re wearing bizarre makeup or wearing chains (like the picture here) or really hideous tattoos or piercings, aren’t they attempting to draw attention to themselves? If I go out of my way to look extremely anti-social, can I be surprised when I am viewed as possibly a little crazy and/or dangerous?

Well, when I was in high school, I was scared to stick out because I was afraid of being beat up because I might be perceived as gay.

And yes I have seen well-meaning people try to feminize “baby butch lesbians,” as a lesbian friend of mine is fond of referring to them. Especially if they are better at masculine pursuits than the boys, such as repairing machinery, building things, and competing in athletic events.

Ummm, thanks for another pointless study. Can we get one on the discipline given out to tall vs. short students? How about red haired students vs. all other students? Just keep beating it into our heads how hard it is to be gay/lesbian and maybe we’ll all hold hands and sing “We Are Family”.

BS….I am for gay rights…but this article is BS.,…gays punished more…blacks punished more than whites…hispanics punished more than whites. Guess what…kids that misbehave are punished. I guess prisons are disproportionate too? Wonder if it has anything to do with the people that commit crimes?? More boys get in trouble than girls…so guys its not your behavior it is your profile.

Oh, good grief, stop the abnormal tags, the rebellion tags. There have been homosexuals from forever. Many more heteros so focus on the truth: gays get bullied, they become targets and are totally hated by most ignorant supposedly heteros. Our sexual orientation isn’t chosen. Too bad you all are too dumb to realize that one little thing.

If they don’t behave as a homosexual or “odd wad”, or dress as a homosexual or “odd wad”, they will most likely be ok. And if they are picked on, grow some thick skin and quit whining. Lord only know the harrassment and crap that I dealt with, and I lived through it.

As a former teacher of thirty years, I find the study to be accurate and important for people to know. It is not wanting to push the Gay/Lesbian issues on anyone … the study stated facts that many want to sweep under the carpet. Many of the Gay/Lesbian children are bullied by fellow students, teachers , parents , and society as a whole.

As a gay teacher, my principal would have the gay children placed in my classes … many have gone on to become successful teachers, lawyers, doctors, business people, etc. I not only taught the curriculum , I taught self-worth.

Appalling — maybe it’s a symptom of anti-establishment personality, even though the offenses are the same. Maybe that comment is a sympton of the problem that interprets the behavior as tied to being gay. That is patently absurd. Does every action that a heterosexual

As a gay male, I can agree with many of the comments on here. As a teenager, you go through the most rebellious time of your life. As a gay teenager, you feel that you are outside of the accepted mainstream, so it doubles. Then you go to college, get a great job, meet the love of your life, make lifelong friends and live the life you always wanted. I look back on those teenage years and laugh. Biggest difference is my laughter comes from six-pack abs as opposed to the heteros with their beer belly (mostly kidding)!

As a gay male, I can agree with many of the comments on here. As a teenager, you go through the most rebellious time of your life. As a gay teenager, you feel that you are outside of the accepted mainstream, so it doubles. Then you go to college, get a great job, meet the love of your life, make lifelong friends and live the life you always wanted. I look back on those teenage years and laugh. Biggest difference is my laughter comes from six-pack abs as opposed to the heteros with their beer belly (mostly kidding)!

Did the “worse/more-likely punishment for the same offense” study correct for people with similar disciplinary backgrounds?

It makes sense that people who are openly gay would likely have a longer “rap sheet” than those who aren’t.

Part of this is because they are more likely to be teased and react to the teasing in ways that get them – and hopefully their tormentors – sent to the vice-principal’s office. Even if they don’t get into trouble in those occurrences if they do something later the vice-principal may be less lenient than if he sees a student in his office he’s never seen before for the same offense.

Part of is also has to do with rebellion and the perception of rebellion. It takes a lot of courage to come out as a teenager. The administration may perceive such coming out as “non-conformity,” preferring that students keep non-majority sexual preferences to themselves. When a student who the vice-principal already thinks of as non-conformist, he may be less willing to cut the kid the break he usually gives to first-time offenders.

Part of it – hopefully a vanishingly small part – is due to out and out prejudice on the part of the administration.

One of the first questions that any administration needs to ask when students break the rules is “why.” If it’s for selfish reasons then punishment is of course appropriate as well as counseling to help deter recidivism. If it’s civil disobedience then the student should be demanding to be punished. If it’s for any other reason then counseling may be the first order of business so the root issues can be identified and dealt with. If punishment is still needed, which it might be in order for all students to see that the system is fairly applied, then hand down the punishment, but don’t skip the counseling and the fixing of the root problem. Especially if the root problem is something the school can fix like bullying.

I’m with you obtusegoose. I especially enjoy all of the people in the “worthless study” camp who have probably never done a study or published an article in their lives let alone know how to read and critique one. I mean, raise your hand if you’ve ever done a multivariate analysis. Yeah, that’s kinda what I thought. Gah.

For the record, Francisca, there is a WHOLE lot of literature to support this, especially in schools. Let me know if you want to read more because, boy, have I got some articles for you!

…how is it even possible for a gay kid to be more rebellious than a straight kid? Have you even been around a rebellious straight kid? It would be pretty difficult for anyone other than godzilla to be more rebellious than a straight kid.

Gay kids recruiting others? Hogwash…at the teenage development stage most gay kids are so embarrassed and humiliated to be seen as gay, they probably tend to go the opposite direction than recruiting anyone…they would tend to be loners, avoid their peers, probably not participate in school activities and generally just fade into the background.

What some of these comments tell me is that there is still a lot of stupidity running amuck out there in the world about gay kids. You have to have lived through that to really get a feel for what the kids are going through. They feel abnormal, disconnected, and apprehensive all the time. I suspect the gay kids suffer greater punishment for the same crime as a straight kid because the adult involved in the punishment senses the kid is gay and has a built in disgust or dislike for homosexuality…the feeling may not even be conscious to the adult, but I’ll just bet it is there nonetheless…

“poor,poor,poor,gay people…lets set them up with some money!” by barry Johnson

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Where is your humanity? The kids do not need money…they need love,understanding, patience,a sense of belonging…they do not need anyone else sneering at them, calling them names, and letting them know by actions and deeds that they are subhuman, dispicable, loathesome! For crying out loud, these are just children that want all the same things that straight kids have in their lives…peer respect, friends, caring and understanding parents. These are kids that have a sexual orientation, not chosen, but deligated by nature…they are as normal as anyone only a little different. This world would be a big time loser without gays…they are everyone and as capable and sometimes more capable than any straight person…they make a real and measureable contribution to society. So, don’t be so quick to dismiss the real pain and suffering of these young people as some kind of gimmick to get money, recruit others into their lifestyle, get attention…They have a real problem and they need real people to care. Why would anyone want to purposely hurt a young person who is just trying to cope with a really bad hand they’ve been dealt…until you walk a mile in their shoes, don’t be so quick to castigate them.

@AgLee16, I always appreciate your comments. This study itself, if you look through the notes, cites other studies as well. The scope of this study, plus the fact it’s the AAP, really sets it apart though I think.

Thanks, Francisca! I haven’t looked through the citations, sadly. I’m defending my thesis proposal on Thursday, so that is taking up a WHOLE lot of my time (and oh man, would the chron readers have a FIT if they knew what I was doing).

But, it is worth noting to the “this study has an agenda” people that a) ALL studies have bias, and most, especially those published in such a high quality journal, do not have agendas and b) If you’re concerned about the funding of any study, you can always request that information. They have to provide it to you. I think you’ll find that most studies (especially of this nature) do not use federal or state dollars.